State-owned Oil India Limited (OIL) intends to invest Rs. 25,000 crore (US$ 3.01 billion) in clean energy projects that will help it achieve a net zero carbon emission goal by 2040, says Ranjit Rath, Chairman.
In order to achieve net zero emissions, Oil India Limited (OIL) will reduce gas flaring, commercialize stranded gas, set up renewable energy production capacity, construct green hydrogen plants, and create biogas and ethanol factories.
Ranjit Rath further stated that the company plans to lay an 80-kilometre pipeline to bring natural gas from fields in Arunachal Pradesh to Assam to help replace polluting liquid fuels in transport as well as industries.
He also mentioned that the project of Rs. 25,000 crore (US$ 3.01 billion) is for an array of activities, including green hydrogen, compressed biogas plants, and a renewable portfolio. geothermal energy, zero flaring initiatives, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) projects, and 2G ethanol plants.
OIL intends to invest over Rs. 9,000 crore (US$ 1.08 billion) in 1,800 megawatts (MW) of solar and onshore wind energy projects, as well as Rs. 3,000 crore (US$ 361.2 million) in a project to produce green hydrogen.
Additionally, projects for Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) would receive Rs. 1,000 crore (US$ 120.4 million) in funding. It has already firmed up plans for 640 MW of solar projects in Assam and another 150 MW in Himachal Pradesh.
OIL joins other publicly traded companies that are spending billions of dollars to assist India in becoming net-zero by 2070. The largest oil company in the country, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), aims to reach net zero by 2046, while oil and gas giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has pledged an investment of Rs. 2 lakh crore (US$ 24.08 billion) to reach net zero by 2038.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) aspires to attain net zero carbon emissions from its operations by 2046, while Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Gas Authority India Limited (GAIL) have the same goal for 2040.
Ranjit Rath stated that OIL is working on a 4+ mission of raising crude oil production to over 4 MT and gas output to 5 billion cubic meters. There has been production of 3.2 MT of crude in 2022-23. This year, the company achieved a target of reaching 3.8 MT and by 2024-25, the plan is to achieve the 4+ mission. In order to accomplish this, a mix of increased exploration to access fresh reservoirs and technological advancements to boost output from existing fields will be used.
